This article details how to manage notifications and communication preferences in the Finalsite Mobile App, including how to control push notifications for news, mailing lists, calendar events, and emergency alerts.
All notification settings live in one place: tap the profile bubble (the circle with initials) in the top right corner of the app, then tap Notifications. Read on to customize exactly what arrives and when.
Do you also have Finalsite Chat?
If SMS reminders, email digests, or chat notification settings appear in your app, that means your district has enabled Finalsite Chat. See "Mobile App + Chat for families: Manage subscriptions and notifications" for the full guide including all Chat-specific settings.
💡Quick answers
- Where are all notification settings? Tap the profile bubble (top right), then tap Notifications.
- How are push notifications controlled? Go to Profile > Preferences > Notifications and toggle individual news boards and mailing lists on or off.
- How do I subscribe to a news board or mailing list? Go to Profile > Preferences > Notifications, then toggle on any mailing list or news board to receive push notifications when content is posted.
- How do I add a calendar event to my device? Open any event in the app and tap Add to calendar to sync it to an Apple or Google calendar.
- What is the bell icon? A chronological inbox of all alerts, news, and calendar notifications. Always accessible, even if push notifications are off on the device.
- Can emergency notifications be turned off? No. Important announcements are always on and cannot be disabled.
In this article
Types of notifications in the mobile app
Before managing settings, it helps to understand the different ways information can arrive from the school app.
| Notification type | How it arrives | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Push notifications | Lock screen / banner | An app notification sent directly to the device when the app is in the background, for any subscribed content: news, mailing lists, and emergency alerts. |
🔔 Bell icon inbox
All push notifications also appear in the bell icon inbox, where they stay accessible even if the original alert was dismissed. The bell provides a chronological record of all alerts received, including news and calendar updates, and remains accessible even when push notifications are disabled on the device. A red bubble on the bell indicates unread updates.
Use the filter buttons at the top of the notification screen to view only news or calendar updates.
Manage notifications
Navigate to the profile bubble, then go to Preferences > Notifications to manage which categories of school content arrive as push notifications.
Personalize news, calendar, and mailing list subscriptions
Subscribe to mailing lists and news
Toggle individual boards on or off — for example, Athletics, Fine Arts, or school-wide announcements — to control which content generates an immediate push notification. The first time a notification is enabled, a system prompt will confirm the choice. Once subscribed, a red bubble appears on the bell icon when the district or school sends a message to that list.
To unsubscribe from a news board, open a news story from that board and tap Unsubscribe, or toggle it off in Profile Preferences Notifications.
Subscribe to calendar reminders
Open any calendar event in the app and tap Subscribe to receive reminders for it. Tap Add to calendar to sync the event to a personal device calendar (Apple or Google).
To remove a synced event from a personal calendar, delete it directly from the phone's native calendar app. Changes made in the phone's calendar do not affect the school's calendar.
Important announcements
Important announcements cannot be turned off and are always enabled. They are reserved for urgent, emergency communications and cannot be toggled off.
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